Wow! I can't believe how fast this week went by! I have learned so much and have stayed extremely busy in the office. This week I sent out letters to individuals, ROC events, and even drafted a press release for the International Women's Leadership Conference (IWLC). As for specific ROC related work, I have been pulling general information from the website www.hawaiiroc.org in order to gain a better understanding of the organization, had several meetings figuring out details for upcoming events, talked to a couple of people with the Honolulu Advertiser about the 4-page article I am in charge of, and figured out some information regarding our office space.
In the evenings Riana and I have done some more exploring, especially regarding food eateries! YUM! We tried out this place called Yogurtland. Basically it is like a ColdStone Creamery, but with Yogurt based ice cream = so good! I will definitely be stopping there a couple more times. We also met one of my next door neighbor's friends from school named Zach. He is such a funny kid and will probably join Riana and I on several of our adventures. As for this Memorial Day weekend, I am looking forward to hitting up the beach at least a little bit everyday, do some exploring, try finding the farmer's market, and whatever else may come my way! I just know that I need to hit up the beach and get a little bit of tan, so that way when I come home I hopefully wont get crap about not having a tan and being in Hawaii for 6 weeks.
I have also learned a few lessons this week.
1.) Make sure you understand that bus drivers don't always know what they are talking about.
2.) Make sure that I know the address of where I am supposed to be delivering packages. (Google map it before I leave also helps!)
3.) Working for the Governor's office can be a bit hectic (understatement).
4.) I thought I knew what busy meant until I met Corrie.
5.) Carrying an umbrella in Hawaii can be useful for their daily light showers.
Well I hope you are all well and I will update you again soon!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The work has begun...
Well yesterday (Monday) I met up with Corrie to discuss things for the next 6 weeks. Upon our meeting she informed me that the office building for Robotics Organization Committee (ROC) where I would be working is still not open due to insurance reasons, so she offered for me to work with her in the State Capital Building till it opens up next week sometime. Of course I am not going to pass up an offer to try new things and work in the executive office of the Hawaii government! So for the past 2 days I have been reporting to Corrie in the Capital Building!
Yesterday didn't involve too much work since Corrie and I had to discuss details, go to a few meetings and she arranged for Riana and I to take a tour of the Iolani Palace with her family. It was such a cool palace and I absolutely fell in love with all the woodwork in it. (Dad you would have loved to have toured it!) Sorry I would show you pictures, but no photography allowed. After the tour Riana and I went out to California Pizza Kitchen with my neighbors friend, Zach, from university here. He was such a nice guy and I am sure we will hang out with him again.
Today I met Corrie at 8am to go over and meet Lee, a guy that I am going to be working with for ROC and went over some details and projects. Then we headed to the Capital Building to do some more work. Corrie has been having me practice my journalism through writing letters to various people for ROC events and their Women's Conference Organization. Several drafts later, Corrie decides that the letters are worthy enough to be submitted to Lennie for a final reading before we send them out. I also had to run an errand for Corrie while she was in a meeting. Let's just say that with a little bit of difficulty I managed to find the building, get security to open up the suite so I could grab the needed stuff, and then deliver it to the person. Finally the other big event for the day was a press conference by Governor Lindle about the Education Furlong Fridays. In the conference she announced that the eight month furlong were finally over. It was a really crowded press conference according to Corrie and afterwards I met Governor Lindle.
Overall, I am enjoying Hawaii. I do miss being able to talk to everyone back at home. It is very hard to talk to everyone with a five hour time difference when I have to get up in the morning early, catch the bus, and work. It is okay though people will just have to realize that they will have to wait till the weekend before I can talk for long periods of time. I have to say though that I remember how much I despise public transportation and it brings back all my times using Australian public transportation. Oh yeah cockroaches, lizards, and other bugs are a regular around here, but surprisingly I don't freak out. I guess maybe there was some benefit to surrounded by all of these wonderful creatures in Australia?!?!
*A corner of the Capital building with the city in the background*
*The middle of the Capital Building. Yes it is a different building.*
*The Capital Building*
Yesterday didn't involve too much work since Corrie and I had to discuss details, go to a few meetings and she arranged for Riana and I to take a tour of the Iolani Palace with her family. It was such a cool palace and I absolutely fell in love with all the woodwork in it. (Dad you would have loved to have toured it!) Sorry I would show you pictures, but no photography allowed. After the tour Riana and I went out to California Pizza Kitchen with my neighbors friend, Zach, from university here. He was such a nice guy and I am sure we will hang out with him again.
Today I met Corrie at 8am to go over and meet Lee, a guy that I am going to be working with for ROC and went over some details and projects. Then we headed to the Capital Building to do some more work. Corrie has been having me practice my journalism through writing letters to various people for ROC events and their Women's Conference Organization. Several drafts later, Corrie decides that the letters are worthy enough to be submitted to Lennie for a final reading before we send them out. I also had to run an errand for Corrie while she was in a meeting. Let's just say that with a little bit of difficulty I managed to find the building, get security to open up the suite so I could grab the needed stuff, and then deliver it to the person. Finally the other big event for the day was a press conference by Governor Lindle about the Education Furlong Fridays. In the conference she announced that the eight month furlong were finally over. It was a really crowded press conference according to Corrie and afterwards I met Governor Lindle.
Overall, I am enjoying Hawaii. I do miss being able to talk to everyone back at home. It is very hard to talk to everyone with a five hour time difference when I have to get up in the morning early, catch the bus, and work. It is okay though people will just have to realize that they will have to wait till the weekend before I can talk for long periods of time. I have to say though that I remember how much I despise public transportation and it brings back all my times using Australian public transportation. Oh yeah cockroaches, lizards, and other bugs are a regular around here, but surprisingly I don't freak out. I guess maybe there was some benefit to surrounded by all of these wonderful creatures in Australia?!?!
*A corner of the Capital building with the city in the background*
*The middle of the Capital Building. Yes it is a different building.*
*The Capital Building*
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Aloha from Honolulu
Aloha!
Well I arrived in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii last night after a long day in the airport system with several delays due to the weather, but I made it safely so that's the important part! Landing in Honolulu last night reminded me of landing in Sydney. This is because of the thousands of city lights, the bay inlets all along the shoreline, and of course the tropics. After claiming my luggage and getting a shuttle, I finally arrived at my place of stay (1811 East-West Rd, Hale Kauhine) where Riana Riffle greeted me with a beautiful lei she made! After several hugs and jumps up and down from seeing each other, we made our way up to our shared room where I unpacked and we talked about how her mentorship is going thus far. We laid down for bed around 11pm, where I passed out almost immediately, but Riana stayed up and watched a movie for a little while.
This morning I woke up several times due to the time change of being back 5 hours. But it gave me a chance to enjoy the beautiful view of mountains and greenery from our room. I have a lot on the agenda for today. Riana and I are going to go on a jog to figure out where things are, grocery shop, buy a bus pass, meet up with Corrie Heck (my mentor), and then Riana's aunt wants to take us out to dinner. Well and if we have time I am going to hit up the beach as well!
Thank you everyone for all your prayers for me and make sure to continue to read about my next 6 weeks as I try to inform you about all that I am doing here in beautiful Honolulu!
Well I arrived in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii last night after a long day in the airport system with several delays due to the weather, but I made it safely so that's the important part! Landing in Honolulu last night reminded me of landing in Sydney. This is because of the thousands of city lights, the bay inlets all along the shoreline, and of course the tropics. After claiming my luggage and getting a shuttle, I finally arrived at my place of stay (1811 East-West Rd, Hale Kauhine) where Riana Riffle greeted me with a beautiful lei she made! After several hugs and jumps up and down from seeing each other, we made our way up to our shared room where I unpacked and we talked about how her mentorship is going thus far. We laid down for bed around 11pm, where I passed out almost immediately, but Riana stayed up and watched a movie for a little while.
This morning I woke up several times due to the time change of being back 5 hours. But it gave me a chance to enjoy the beautiful view of mountains and greenery from our room. I have a lot on the agenda for today. Riana and I are going to go on a jog to figure out where things are, grocery shop, buy a bus pass, meet up with Corrie Heck (my mentor), and then Riana's aunt wants to take us out to dinner. Well and if we have time I am going to hit up the beach as well!
Thank you everyone for all your prayers for me and make sure to continue to read about my next 6 weeks as I try to inform you about all that I am doing here in beautiful Honolulu!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
